Monday Miscellany: Odds, Ends and Personals

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From Graham in respect of Guedelon Castle, featured in the BBC series Secrets of the Castle:

Glad you enjoyed the series, it was the 7th in a series by the BBC, the site’s website is www.guedelon.fr/en/

Past series were similar in that they recreated the time and manner that things were achieved. 

The series were:

• Tales from the Green Valley: 12 parts, first shown on BBC Two in autumn 2005, it follows historians and archaeologists as they recreate farm life from the age of the Stuarts. 

• Victorian Farm: 6 parts, first shown on BBC Two in January 2009, it recreates everyday life on a small farm in Shropshire in the mid-19th century 

• Victorian Pharmacy: 4 parts, first shown on BBC Two in July 2010, it looks at life in the 19th Century and how people attempted to cure common ailments. 

• Edwardian Farm: 12 parts, first shown on BBC Two from November 2010 to January 2011, it depicts a group of historians running a farm like it was done during the Edwardian era. 

• Wartime Farm: 9 parts, first shown on BBC Two on 6 September 2012, it recreates the running of a farm during the Second World War. 

• Tudor Monastery Farm: 6 parts, first shown on BBC Two in November and December 2013, it shows what farming was like during the Tudor period. 

Cheers

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From Leo in response to the same post:

Otto, 

I don't see the point in wasting all this time in the modern day era unless people think that Mad Max is going to happen and we have to go back to basics. A mate of mine has bought a farm simply on that premise. 

But you made me remember that during my travels last year, I think it was in North Eastern France like Amiens, Lille or one of those WW1 French towns, that I went into a cathedral to stay warm and read the history of the construction of the cathedral. It was actually built by a person with no experience in anything and took basically his entire life and the equivalent of millions of dollars in today’s terms. I remember that they had put the roof on and he went in one night to look at his marvellous creation and heard a sagging-like noise which he didn't understand or know where it was coming from. In the middle of the night he climbed up the wall of the cathedral to the ceiling and sat there listening to the noise and realised that the roof and walls were separating and that the roof would probably fall in on the inside of the church at any time. 

He was devastated and didn't know what to do. He then came up with the idea of buttressing and of course that delayed the construction another 5 to 10 years while they had to buttress the whole cathedral. That cathedral still stands. 

A side story to that, and I hope I'm not mixing up my cathedrals. (As my father used to say: “Just ABC” which stood for “another bloody cathedral”, or “another bloody church” et cetera, when he was taken around Europe by my very Catholic mother to look at God's works.) 

Was that the Bishop / Cardinal (???) was a baddie and tried to have my bloke murdered, discredited etc etc etc because my bloke was using up all the money that he wanted, and after all sorts of scandals, he was exposed and ran up to the top of the cathedral and jumped off the scaffolding much to the delight of the peasants. I will look at my diary to see if I recorded it to find out where it was for you.

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Another from Graham:

ARAPROSDOKIANS are figures of speech in which the latter part of a sentence is unexpected . 

1. Where there's a will, I want to be in it. 

2. Since light travels faster than sound, some people appear bright until you hear them speak. 

3. If I agreed with you, we'd both be wrong. 

4. War does not determine who is right - only who is left. 

5 Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad. 

6. They begin the evening news with 'Good Evening,' then proceed to tell you why it isn't. 

7. To steal ideas from someone is plagiarism. To steal from many is called research. 

8. In filling in an application, where it says, 'In case of emergency, notify:' I put 'DOCTOR.' 

9. I didn't say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you. 

10. Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they look sexy. 

11. Behind every successful man is his woman. Behind the fall of a successful man is usually another woman. 

12. A clear conscience is the sign of a bad memory. 

13. I used to be indecisive. Now I'm not so sure. 

14. Nostalgia isn't what it used to be. Nor is there any future in it. 

15. Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine. 

16. Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in your garage makes you a car. 

17. I'm supposed to respect my elders, but it’s getting harder and harder for me to find one now. 

18. I am not arguing with you, I am explaining why you are wrong .

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Cilla Black (1943-2015) died yesterday at her home in Spain aged 72, death being believed to be from natural causes. 

A young Cilla snapped at rehearsals for 'Thank Your Lucky Stars' with Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, Gerry and the Pacemakers, The Searchers and The Beatles.

Born Priscilla Maria veronica White, she adopted the name Cilla Black after being mistakenly named that in a review and found that she liked it better. Her career was championed by the Beatles, as a result of which she signed with Brian Epstein in 1963 and worked with George Martin. Her singles "Anyone Who Had a Heart" (1964) and "You're My World" (1964) both reached number one. Black had eleven Top Ten hits on the British charts between 1964 and 1971. Both songs were among the chart-toppers in Australia. Her later career included hosting her own variety show, Cilla, for the BBC between 1968 and 1976 and being a television presenter in the 1980s and 1990s, hosting hit entertainment shows such as Blind Date (1985–2003) and Surprise Surprise (1984–2001).

Cilla weds her then manager, Brian Willis, in 1960.  She was married to him until his death of cancer in 1999.

RIP Cilla.